ECHO13008 - Advanced Cardiac Assessment Skills

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit you will compare and contrast the methodology and outcomes of several advanced echocardiographic and cardiac catheterisation procedures and alternative cardiac testing modalities including MRI, CT and Nuclear medicine. You will apply this knowledge to a variety of common cardiovascular pathologies frequently first assessed with echocardiography, within the setting of best practice and patient safety. You will evaluate a variety of cardiac assessment data, formulating differential diagnoses and management strategies.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite

ECHO12004 Cardiac Assessment Skills 1 OR ECHO12007 Cardiac Rhythm Assessment

AND

ECHO12003 Principles of Cardiac Assessment OR ECHO12008 Doppler Echocardiography

AND

ECHO12005 Cardiac Clinical Unit 2

AND

Co-requisite:

ECHO13006 Adult Echocardiography

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2025

Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 40%
2. Group Work 60%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 57.14% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 30.43% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: SUTE Data
Feedback
Students raised concerns about the marking criteria for some online quiz questions, where multiple responses were required for a single mark allocation.
Recommendation
The online quiz marking criteria will be reviewed to ensure consistent practice, and that the mark allocation reflects question response requirements and complexity.
Action Taken
The online quiz marking criteria was reviewed and updated to ensure consistency across all quiz items.
Source: SUTE Data
Feedback
Students reported frustration with the group work assessment task, with most of their resentment focused on the cross-campus collaboration requirements.
Recommendation
The rationale for including group work and cross-campus collaboration will be thoroughly explained and discussed in the next unit offering. This will help students understand the importance of the task and its relevance to their professional careers.
Action Taken
The group work and cross-campus collaboration was clearly explained to the students. This helped students see why the task was important and how it related to their future careers.
Source: SUTE Data
Feedback
Students reported the time duration allocated for the online quiz as being too short.
Recommendation
The length of time allocated for completion of the online quiz will be reviewed.
Action Taken
Ultimately, the quiz time was not adjusted, as the duration aligned with the task focus of factual recall and demonstration of conceptual understanding. The time constraint promotes academic integrity by discouraging reliance on information retrieval.
Source: SUTE data
Feedback
Several students felt it would be more beneficial to offer this unit prior to year 2 placement
Recommendation
Expanding the introduction provided in the unit orientation materials to explain why the unit is scheduled after Year 2 placement may help manage expectations. Emphasising the unit’s role in consolidating prior learning and applying it in a more complex clinical context could improve student understanding of its purpose within the broader course structure. The content is designed as an AQF Level 7 unit and builds on both earlier theory and clinical experience. The advanced imaging modalities and theoretical content rely on students having a clinical foundation for the material to be meaningful.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Tutorials
Feedback
Students appreciated the use of real-world case studies; however, some were concerned that similar formats would be used in the quiz and felt they lacked the knowledge to answer those types of questions confidently.
Recommendation
Continue to use real-world case studies to help students apply theoretical knowledge to clinical scenarios. Clarify that these cases are designed as learning tools to support knowledge development, not as an assessment strategy. Ensure appropriate scaffolding is provided so students feel supported in interpreting pathology and understanding how advanced imaging modalities are used in the cardiac industry to assess cardiac pathology and guide diagnosis.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Discuss the clinical assessment and management strategy for a variety of cardiac conditions, with consideration of pathophysiological processes, best practice guidelines and patient safety
  2. Compare and contrast the methodology and outcomes of various cardiac assessment modalities, identifying discordant data
  3. Analyse case-based cardiac assessment data to formulate differential diagnoses
  4. Demonstrate professional communication skills.

Linked to the Australian Sonographer Accreditation Register Standards for Cardiac Sonography:

Foundation Units of Competence

  • Unit 1: Deliver safe, patient centred service
  • Unit 2: Practice within professional and ethical frameworks
  • Unit 3: Locate, analyse and synthesise information to support evidence based practice
  • Unit 4: Contribute to workplace health and safety and quality assurance
  • Unit 5: Communicate effectively

Critical Practice Unit of Competence

  • Unit 8: Cardiac

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • • • •
2 - Group Work • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4
1 - Communication • • • •
2 - Problem Solving • • • •
3 - Critical Thinking • • • •
4 - Information Literacy • • • •
5 - Team Work •
8 - Ethical practice • • •
9 - Social Innovation •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Introductory Level
• Intermediate Level
• Graduate Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10